I have a '94 explorer with 245,000 miles on it and it still has the original 5 spd manual. it came to my attention after I had the clutch slave replaced and the shift lever got REALLY loose, that there's a socket for the ball on the end of the shifter that is totally worn out. I'm not sure what it's called, so I hope my description is enough! the only thing holding the shifter where it's supposed to be is a bracket that just breaks because this socket has worn into more of an oval than a half-sphere. This means when I try to shift into, say, fifth gear, the shift lever is allowed to go all the way into the passenger footwell without this plastic bracket before I can actually shift. The shop I took it to mentioned a possibility of a shim kit to shim the socket (they told me there was a similar solution for early subarus). does anyone have a clue if they exist or how I can find some? Without it, they have to pull the transmission to fix it - way too expensive! they replaced my bracket and gave it another 8 or 9 months before it broke again...